The Other Roy Dominates as Phils Jump 6 Up

Roy Oswalt. Tommy Hanson. Neither blinked. Both righties battled each other, providing a pitchers duel that leaves you feeling a little giddy in late September. They left it for the bullpens to fend for themselves, and in the end, the Phillies were once again too much for Atlanta in the 1-0 finale win, their 10th straight.

Raul Ibanez gave the Phillies all they needed for a sweep with a double down the left field line that sprayed chalk and scored Jayson Werth. Werth slid through home plate with a pump of his fist as the rally towels waved at full whip.

The gap in the National League East has grown because of performances like that of Oswalt. He went seven innings, tossing 99 pitches, while allowing a lone hit and walk. It was a shutdown game that reeks of playoff baseball. Oswalt is desperate for it, as are many of the men who share red pinstripes.

Although he was left with a no-decision, Oswalt was downright brilliant, as he has been for sometime now. Tonight was Roy Deuce’s ninth scoreless outing of the season, and it came at a time when it was absolutely necessary.

Several players have flourished at the right moment, including one of the more beleaguered Phillies, Brad Lidge. The Phillies closer has converted nine saves in a row – including three straight nights with a save – and has finally found his old self. He said the workload hasn’t been a problem. “I do feel good,” said Lidge. “Basically the first two months of the season I was on the DL, so, to be able to throw a lot these last few months… that’s what’s one of the things that’s helped to get my arm and that command back.”

It wasn’t until the fifth inning the Phillies got any sort of offense perking. Carlos Ruiz’s one out double was the first hit of the evening off of Hanson. Wilson Valdez followed that up with a walk and Roy Oswalt moved them up a base with a well-placed two-strike bunt.

That brought up a scuffling Shane Victorino who promptly struck out looking on a ball right down the chute. It was a night filled with missed opportunities; few opportunities really. Tommy Hanson was the cause of the lacking offense.

Hanson went six strong frames, allowing just two hits while walking three and striking out four. Too many times he fooled Phillies hitters with a nasty slider/curveball combo which is helped by a mid-90’s fastball. Hanson did all he could, however, the Braves continued their slide into the abyss.

And for the Phillies, all that mattered was that Oswalt kept it close enough for the offense to strike. In the end, they did.

So the lead is six games with nine to play. Do the math and the Phils have a magic number of four. They are ever so close to completing a remarkable comeback, but it’s not yet time to sleep. They’ve taken care of business for the last month, what’s a few more days?

I’m proud of Raul Ibanez’s comeback for the 2nd half of the season. Often criticized by “fans” here early in the season, Ibanez showed there is still life in his bat. He has contributed one big hit after another and hit for a .313 BA in the 2nd half of the season. More importantly in the September drive he is giving an MVP typed performance hitting .361 and coming up big with RISP situations.

Realistically the only hope for the Braves is the WC. But they are screwing around enough where that could be trouble for them as well.
SF lost to the Cubs they are now 85-67
Of course the Braves are now 86-67
The Friars just pulled ahead of the Dodgers – they are currently 84-66
And the Rockies are now losing the D’backs in the 6th – they are 82-68

Rockies could be taking themselves out of the race. Padres have a very tough schedule for their remaining games. As a matter of fact, the team with the easiest schedule is probably the Braves as they have 9 left, and 3 tough ones (vs the Phils of course).
The Giants have 3 vs the Rockies then finish the season with 3 in SD
The Padres have 3 vs Cincy and finish the season at home vs SD for 3
The Rox have 3 vs the Giants then finish the season with 4 games in St Louis and to round out the WC race, the Braves have 3 vs Nats, 3 vs Fish, 3 vs Phils.

Ibanez was the worst every day OF in the majors for a few months.
The old man stuck with him.
Id have run Lidge off and hamels off after last season and a month of this one.
Got to give credit to the old man and Ruben for sticking with them. Didnt look good but ti all worked out. I just trust them now.
There hasnt been a bitch about the Lee trade even in forever.
Got to say credit to the brass and manager.

@ brooks
Yes the Rocks may have run out of steam and thats good for the Phillies.

Really the only legit threat is the Giants now. Reds are struggling. Votto is banged up and over worked is out again tonight. And Phillips has been slumping. The Cardinals should be ashamed for not making it.

Andrew the old man stuck with Ibanez because RAJ wasnt going to have a ten million dollar player sitting on the bench….We have to do better with RISP its just atrocious…great pitching beats good hitting most of the time..but we need to get them runs across boys….Its like entering a Vagina and shooting blanks…

SD has the lead in the bot of 9th vs LAD – 3-1, Giants lost to the Cubs – 2-0
This is telling me these guys are all soft – not to take anything for granted but, the tough got to get their shiieete together eh?

You guys are a trip! I read all the comments from y’all. I read right when Ibanez hit the game winner and “BravoTurd” was written a bunch.

Hey, we disagree on which teams we love, but we all love this game. Here in Tennessee I don’t have hardly anybody to talk baseball with. They all love thier football, so I go to Braves sites and some on here to talk to the rivals.

Anyways, y’all have a really good team and mine has let me down big time. It’s only a game, but you gotta love it.

I never “hated” the Braves (I’m not perfect but I reserve such emotions for the NY Yankees). When the Braves were winning those 14 NL Easts, it wasn’t because you guys were evil – it was because our guys weren’t good enough. Now, I’m happy to say that we’re WAY good enough – the worm has turned, and we have a team on a mission and that “three-headed monster” rolling into playoff time.

Sometimes I wonder what being a sports fan is all about. Sure thing it’s about pulling for your team … but does that have to include some of the insults and even threats I’ve seen on this board? I don’t think so.
Here’s what I said a couple of hours ago, on the earlier thread:

“Braves contended all year, and finally ran into a buzz saw (Hamels, Halladay, Oswalt). Just as planned; sometimes the best laid plans do work out. If they didn’t know it before, now whoever else makes it to the NLCS – as well as the AL winner – can see what they’re up against in a playoff series with the Phillies.

Braves did a lot with what they had – and they might make the playoffs yet. Their fans should stop bitching enough to see that (probable) 90-or-so wins by their club is really pretty good. Great job again by Bobby Cox.”

The way the schedule stacks up, it’s too early for “let-down time”: Phillies now SEEM a lock for winning the NL East (knowing Phillies history full well, there’s no such thing as a sure thing), and should we wrap things up in the next few games, the Braves may not need to deal with H20 when Philadelphia comes to Turner Field for the last 3 games. The Phillies will try to win, but they may want to rest H20 and some others (Polanco …), take another look at Vance Worley as a starter, etc. That may be good news for Braves, and bad news for 2 of the 3 teams in the NL West contending for the top spot. Bottom line: all things considered, Braves still have a real good shot at NL wild card. I hope you have good luck with that … right up to the time when the Braves and Phillies may face off for the NL Championship, that is!

One other thing: the only thing in baseball NEAR as hateful as the NYY is the tomahawk chop.

I never dreamed in my lifetime I’d see 3 starting pitchers of the caliber we have now. If I were a Braves fan I’d be pissed. Bobby Cox put them at a huge disadvantage with the pitching matchups he selected. He’s obviously already thinking about his retirement. Oh well, GO PHILLIES!

I really believe that Cox figured he wasn’t going to win the division anyway, esp in CNB, saved his studs for a series he could win. Now he has Hudson, Lowe, and Jurgens in Wash, a good chance for a sweep. He’s playing for the wild card. No one in the West wants to win – they’ll beat up on each other, the least bad team will take the division, and Atl will take the wild card if they can win 6 of their last 9. Atl will see the b-team Phils in the last series, so they have a shot.

I thought the Phils would have a very good Sept if they could take 19 games – they already have 18.

Chuck, he could have had Hudson out there if he set his rotation a week or two ago. Every team has an off day here and there to work with. I believe that you should go with your best against the other teams best. What kind of message is Cox sending to his players? In a way, I feel kind of cheated because we only beat one of their best. Obviously I’m ecstatic that we swept them, but a sweep against a combination of Hanson, Hudson, and Lowe would have felt better. Don’t get me wrong…I’m not complaining here after a Phillies sweep…just discussing!

Braves are still in great shape… win 2/3 versus the Nats and 2/3 versus the Fish and there’s a good chance you’re still leading the WC race because those other teams are going to be beating each other up. We clearly match up with anyone but I’m still hoping that we avoid the Rockies in the first round (keep us away from Coors). Their pitching looks lost (Hammel and Jimenez are dealing with dead arms) but I think they’ll get over that with rest. Best case scenario; we draw the Padres and the Braves play the Reds.

The Reds are the top contender… by a mile. They’ll wrap up the division this weekend so they’ll be able to rest guys like Votto… the thing that scares me about them is that they’ve been winning without Edinson Volquez and he looks like he’s found his groove so they could have 4 pitchers that are capable starters. Plus, that lineup is pretty sick- Jay Bruce and Drew Stubbs have seemingly found their stroke in September. Like us, their guys have turned it on and I think that the Reds would really give us a good fight.

What a morning, swept the Braves. It was a hell of a series, and closer than it should have been maybe but it shows this teams resolve. Raul came up in the clutch against the leagues best lefty bullpen.

Imagine if Raul and Chooch go into the playoffs hot?? Polanco rested, and Howard can afford a golden bat. Utley and Werth will of course play like they do in the postseason and shane is set to take the lead-off spot.

I LOVE THE NL Playoffs this year. I hope Bravoturd sweeps the last series against Worley/Blanton/Kendrick and the Braves get the wild card.

Padres- can’t hit
Braves- inferior
Reds- What a series, no more dodgers! Plenty of new moments to be made. IE beating up on the big red machine to create a new one.

1 hitter by Oswalt, what should our playoff rotation be?

NLDS- Hamels Halladay Oswalt

Hamels can fight the teams ace, while Halladay and Oswalt dominate the next two.

For example, I’d rather have Hamels fighting CC so the Roys can win the other 2 for sure.

Love Raul… I really think that it took him a lot longer than expected to get back into shape following his sports hernia. He’s an older guy… that’s not something you just bounce back from at any age. For him, it manifested itself in an inability to catch up with fastballs. Like Phillistein said, he’s a consummate pro. You need guys like him on your team. He’s a grinder and he’s going to do whatever he needs to do to plate runs and put his team in position to win.

Nice Pat: “Werth slid through home plate with a pump of his fist as the rally towels waved at full whip.” I was home alone yelling ‘GOGOGO!’ I can’t believe how fast Werth ran, like the wind. Dayym. Did anyone else see that little leg-out-to-the-side dancy thing Wilson Valdez did when he met Werth behind the plate? Odd but really funny.

Okay, RISP is still poor but I’ll take the win right now.

Phillistein: it is NOT your imagination. Truth is: w/o Werth and Ibanez . . . I don’t know folks, I just don’t know. And btw Valdez too. And probably 75% of the Philadelphia fans vehemently wanted to get rid of Ibanez & Werth all season.

This is an interesting team. Interesting dynamics. I’ve had the thought that broken up, playing on other teams these guys might be fine players but perhaps not huge players (and it has NOTHING whatsoever to do w/CBPark). Obviously I don’t know, and I don’t have numbers. But they seem weirdly to pick-up where one leaves off. They have such a solid, unwavering confidence in THE TEAM as a whole that its shocking. Incredibly impressive. Howard, Utley, Werth, Rollins, Victorino – this is where they said they’d be all season. And we don’t need a GPS to find them. THEY THEY ARE. I have to hand it to them. Whatever the dynamics, they know themselves, they know the team. They should be left alone to do their thing.

This team is just special, simple as that. Last night was possibly the most intense regular season game I can remember watching. To have a guy like Ibanez in the middle of the lineup is huge because as someone else had said, he is a grinder. He is never going to be the Raul of first half of 09 but when you need a big hit he delivers.

The confidence is just unreal on this team. When they get like this it feels like they will never lose. I don’t know how this team keeps doing it (putting big September runs together). By default I have to credit Charlie for just staying the course and being calm. So funny that he is just the opposite of Bowa (Bowa would chew down his fingernails during ninth innings of September games while Charlie is as calm as if it is the fourth inning of a spring training game).

It is time we start talking about these teams as the second coming of the late 70’s early 80’s teams. Possibly even better. This team has provided us with more memorable games and moments than any Philadelphia sports team run that I can remember. I literally pity the teams that have to face H20 6 times in a long series. I remember how unbeatable the D-Backs were with 2 aces so I can only imagine how good the Phils should be with 3 aces.

If all goes well this will be an October to remember. It is also all sorts of amazing that this team is 18-3 in September. I wonder what the best September is of all-time. I got to think the Phils have an outside shot at touching that mark.

Lets set the record straight…. The Braves had 11 straight NL East titles. the 3 prior to that they were in the NL West including 93 when the Phils won the NL East(the only other team to win than the Braves until the Mets did it) 94 there was no winner and 95 was realligned.

Sick of hearing about what the Braves did with Cox. It is impressive but since the Yankees were strictly the dynasty team of that era, the Braves are just the Eagles to the Patriots in the early 2000’s. Always the Bridesmaid never really the Bride.

This Philles team is by calculation the best in Franchise history. They win this year with everyone but Werth returning, I think talking Dynasty is fair to mention.

Would love to see the Phillies win 100 being a little hopeful, but would be cool:)